WhatsApp has released a new feature allowing users to add descriptions to forwarded images, videos, GIFs, and documents on Android. This feature is available to some beta testers and will be rolling out to more beta testers in the coming days.
The messaging app also rolled out a feature to allow people to view the storage space they use on their phones from within the chats menu. It can be handy for finding files that may have taken up all your storage and have not been available to send as media files. The feature is available on Android and iOS and can be accessed from the main settings tab by tapping the vertical ellipses icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
This will then display a list of all the chats you have in your account, sorted by size, and you can view them from there. It’s a great way to see which files are taking up most of your storage, and it’ll help you make more informed decisions about how much space you want to use for WhatsApp.
Another new feature is a new option called View Once, which lets you send photos or videos that disappear after they’ve been viewed. This is useful for sharing quick reactions to situations, photos of items you’re trying on, or things you want to keep private. It’s completely free and works with end-to-end encryption, so you can’t see your contacts’ views.
The feature is available on Android and iOS, so it should be compatible with all devices supporting the app. Once you have the latest version of WhatsApp, press the plus icon in the bottom-left corner to open multimedia options, then tap on the ‘photo and video library.’
The media library has a button that says ‘Save incoming media.’ This will allow you to save all incoming media into your native ‘Photos’ app on iOS or onto the ‘Media’ folder in the WhatsApp folder on Android. Once you’ve done this, you can search for any GIF you want to send from the ‘photo and video library’ and push it to your chats after a quick preview.
You can add a description to the forwarded media by simply removing the current caption and replacing it with your own. This will be sent as a separate message so the recipients know it belongs to something other than the original message. It is, therefore, less likely to cause any misunderstandings or misinterpretations.
Adding Descriptions to Forwarded Messages can help you avoid spreading misinformation and provide additional context to the images, videos, GIFs, or documents that other people forward. This can be especially helpful if the current caption doesn’t accurately describe the image or if you want to add a different description.
Besides this new feature, WhatsApp has also rolled out a companion mode that will enable users to link their existing WhatsApp account to a secondary mobile phone. The companion mode is a new addition to multi-device support that was first introduced in November 2022 and was initially only available to a few select beta testers on the Android app. It allows you to access your chats on the second device even if your primary smartphone is offline or you lose your primary device. However, it’s worth mentioning that some features, like managing broadcast lists and posting a status update on the secondary device, will require an active internet connection on your primary device.
